


Goodnight

by Dragon_Falls



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Pre-Canon, slight shalvis vibes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:47:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26049781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_Falls/pseuds/Dragon_Falls
Summary: Shulk likes to talk to the Monado when he’s alone in the lab. He doesn’t think for one minute it’s genuinely listening to him.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 42





	Goodnight

**Author's Note:**

> This is set just before the start of Xenoblade Chronicles - just a few days before the mechon attack on Colony 9.
> 
> It's my first Xenoblade fic. Because Shulk and Alvis are too cute and I want to explore that connection a bit more.

“Urgh… why does it have to be so difficult to figure out your secrets? Why did you only work for Dunban? And I know there’s even more hidden inside… secret layers and almost certainly more symbols and abilities. And it has to be me who finds what you are hiding because… well… what would mum and dad say? They left you to me…”

_I’m listening. But you can’t hear my voice yet._

Time stood still in the weapons development lab. Shulk had always liked that. There were no windows and no opportunities for the sun’s changing light to interfere with his work and hurry him off to bed. He worked at his own pace. It didn’t matter if the sun had set or the moon had risen; a project took as long as it needed. Today had been a beautifully quiet day. The other engineers had been bustling about a project in one of the other buildings, leaving Shulk alone to pursue his own work. Just him and the warm fizz of the ether lamps lightly treading over the scrap metal, cogs and tools.

And, of course, the Monado, which looked over the entire lab from its perch at the back of the room. A legendary blade that looked nothing like any weapon ever made by Homs. The red frame was too light to be made from metal and yet the ether lamplight gave the weapon a metallic sheen. Shulk had no idea what it was made from. There were no rivets or joins to allow it to be taken apart. When it opened to allow the blade of light to form, it almost seemed as if the material bent and shaped itself.

Shulk assumed it had to be powered by ether. There were no other known power sources. But ether didn’t last forever. Ether lamps and other devices needed refilling constantly, but not the Monado. The blue ether circulatory system that stretched from the hilt to the tip of the weapon never dulled, but lightly throbbed in intensity in what Shulk had noted was uncannily in perfect synch with his own breathing. 

Gently, Shulk leaned over the Monado to wipe the scarlet surface with a cloth. It wasn’t as if it needed cleaning each day, but for some reason he felt guilty if he neglected it. It had been coated in grime and oil when the troops returned from Sword Valley last year. Shulk remembered the panic and shock at seeing Dunban on a stretcher. And then the odd pang as he’d seen the Monado abandoned at the back of the transport vessel; its blue glow tainted by layers of dirt. It had been a strange feeling to sense that the Monado had suffered as well in the battle. Shulk hadn’t been able to treat Dunban, so instead he’d focused on the Monado.

“I guess you’ll have to go into battle again,” Shulk said as he caressed the hilt with the cloth. “They say Dunban destroyed the mechon, but we know there’s a factory so maybe they will make more. And there’s still a lot of drones and rogue machines that come over. So…” Shulk gently pressed his other hand against the red frame as he leaned a little closer. “So, I need you to hurry up and tell me what to do… I’m looking after you, so in return… talk to me…” 

Fiora and Reyn would think he was mad if they saw him doing this. Dickson already thought he was mad after walking in a few months ago while Shulk was having a deep, one-sided conversation with the Monado about blue chains. 

_“Look at you and your soul mate there,” Dickson had chuckled. “Don’t worry. Just mature a bit and maybe it will all come together. Though I’m really not sure it’s interested in blue chains…”_

Mature a bit… huh… Shulk had been a bit offended as Dickson rubbed his hand into Shulk’s blond hair. Shulk was way more mature than the likes of Reyn! And to be caught red-handed in mid-monologue… his red cheeks had persisted long after Dickson’s rumbling laughs had finished echoing about the room. 

Shulk shook his head at the memory and then found himself yawning. It was probably very late. Fiora had kindly come by earlier with dinner, but the scent of gravy and dumplings had long since dissipated. 

Shulk rolled up the cleaning cloths and tossed them in a basket. He stretched, fighting back another yawn. It had been a good day. He grinned as he looked at the gunlance on the workbench. It had taken a lot of tweaking to get the blade to shoot forward strongly enough. “I hope Reyn likes it… He’s a funny guy. But he’s always complaining about the weapons. He doesn’t like guns. He doesn’t like swords. Says they don’t suit his style and that we should have a gun that shoots a sword. He’s mad… but actually this was fun! I think he’ll move great with this. I’ve even managed to add slots for gems. Though I can’t just take gems from the supply area for personal projects so he’ll have to find his own. But we can get them next time we-”

Oh. He was doing it again. Explaining things for the sake of the Monado. In case it was listening. 

Shulk rubbed his face. “I’m going mad.”

Reyn was amazing. In the last year, his strength had just gone up and up. Dunban was coaching him a lot too. “I guess Reyn may be your next wielder,” Shulk said absent-mindedly. 

_That’s not who I need._

“And yet… I sort of wish I could be the one…” Which was crazy because Shulk was an engineer. Reyn and Fiora had always wanted to join the defence force; they’d been playfighting as soldiers for as long as Shulk could remember. Shulk had never been able to keep up. Dickson had eventually forced him to learn to use a sword so he could at least defend himself when he was on the outskirts of the colony scavenging for junk, but being like Dunban with the Monado?

That was never going to happen.

_Really?_

“So then why does it feel like…”

_Like what?_

“Like it’s supposed to be you and me…?”

_You'll find out._

Shulk laughed. "Talking to myself again. I really am mad. Time for bed.” He’d give Reyn the new weapon in the morning. 

Shulk tidied up the lab, cleaning and returning all the tools to their rightful places, carefully stacking all the scavenged materials in the correct order, and tidying up loose paper (because somehow paper always ended up everywhere when Shulk was at work since he liked to scribble down all the random ideas that came into his head). He’d take some of the papers to the defence force dormitory so that he could tweak the designs a bit more before sleeping. 

_You tell me everything. But you’ve never once told me your name._

“Shulk,” Shulk said suddenly. 

He didn’t know why he’d spoken aloud and at the same moment he tripped. The paper scattered across a floor that rapidly greeted Shulks’ face as he failed to put his arms out in time. He looked up quickly. The Monado stared at him and Shulk felt his cheeks burning – as if he’d fallen in front of someone he admired. 

“Why did I just say my name?” Shulk murmured.

Because he was tired. Shulk shook himself. 

It took a few minutes to gather the paper up. He tucked it under his arm and then tapped the ether lamp to cut out the light. No use wasting the energy when no one would be back here until morning. In the darkness, the Monado’s azure rivulets sent a glow across the tiled floor, stretching out to Shulk’s boots. 

Shulk paused as he reached the door to the lab. He glanced back at the Monado, watching as the blue light glowed in time with his breathing. “Goodnight,” he murmured. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alvis. Alvis!”

Alvis slowly opened his eyes. Lorithia was in front of him, her eyes hard with annoyance and her hands folded across a bosom that could barely be restrained by the corset she was wearing. “Drifting off into a pretty vision again? See anything useful?” 

Alvis shook his head. “It wasn’t a vision. I was merely processing information.”

The two of them were alone in the Telethia laboratory. Lorithia had been using it increasingly lately as the moment of the expected awakening came closer. She rolled her eyes. “You mean daydreaming? Remind me again why he acknowledges you? Because as far as I see it, I’m the one doing all the preparation for what lies ahead while you have that head of yours in the clouds.”

“He and I have a connection,” said Alvis. “And you should be grateful that I am helping you. I told you that your current line of deduction regarding Telethia is flawed. You cannot increase their power this way and hope to control them.”

“I’m the scientist. I don’t tell you how to make your visions so don’t presume to interfere with my work. Urgh. I’ve had enough for this evening. It’s late. I need my beauty sleep. We’ll finish in the morning.”

“As you wish.”

Lorithia made no secret of her disgruntlement; sighing heavily as she recorded her latest notes on the control panel. She glared at Alvis one last time. “Make sure the entrance is sealed before you leave. And if I find you’ve interfered with anything-”

“A ridiculous notion.”

“Good.”

The entrance to the lab revealed itself as Lorithia approached the wall. Alvis listened to her footsteps in the corridor beyond until they disappeared.

“Goodnight,” he murmured to the empty lab.


End file.
